Imposition is generally the process of arranging pages correctly prior to printing. Imposition is also used to make better use of larger sheets of paper when printing small documents. This can be achieved by placing one or more documents multiple times on the same page.
In recent years, the process of imposition has been automated by computers and is sometimes referred to as “digital stripping”. An entire book may be imposed and many complex functions applied in an instant. Binding options may be changed “on the fly” and impositions produced to multiple output devices simultaneously, often with no user-intervention at all.
In one prior art implementation, imposition is the pre-press process of arranging pages on the same sheet, in such a manner that a proper sequence or position of each page relative to the other pages on the sheet is achieved. Arranging the pages is required because, when for example, a book or a leaflet is manufactured, several pages of the book or leaflet may be printed by the printing press on the same sheet. After printing, the sheet is folded and possibly cut and bound together with other processed sheets. In the resulting book or leaflet, the pages must follow one another in a correct order; this is a job of the imposition process. Thus, the pre-press process of imposition is performed in view of post-press processes such as fold and cut operations.
An imposition plan represents a layout according to which the individual pages are arranged on a sheet, possibly including relevant dimensions, such as, for example, the dimensions of the sheet, the dimensions of the individual pages and the dimensions of the spaces at the borders and between the individual pages on the sheet. To determine an imposition plan, several types of data need to be taken into account, such as the size of the sheet, the size of the individual pages, the possibilities of the press and of the folding machine to be used.
It is customary to use a set of predefined imposition plans, often called imposition templates, to determine an imposition plan. Such a predefined imposition plan or imposition template typically provides the layout of the individual pages on the sheet without dimensions. To select a suitable imposition template for a particular print job, a user may be assisted by a computer program that presents the user with a set of imposition templates. The user can then select an imposition template and add the relevant dimensions to the selected imposition template; usually the user is also assisted in this step by the computer program.
Current automated multi-up implementations enable efficient imposition by proving a means for imposing documents of many different dimensions utilizing a single set of imposition parameters. While providing a means of prepress automation, current implementations of automated multi-up impositions are limited to placing all imposed pages in the same orientation. This limitation prevents the use of automated multi-up imposition on documents that require use of “Dutch imposition” to ensure efficient use of media. Further, automated prepress processing should identify the jobs that require Dutch imposition and should also possess the ability to be optionally imposed manually. It is believed that the methods and systems disclosed herein offer a solution to these problems.